The cost of soil erosion in sub-Saharan Africa: Insights for policy

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cg.authorship.typesCGIAR single centreen
cg.contributor.affiliationInternational Center for Tropical Agricultureen
cg.contributor.initiativeExcellence in Agronomy
cg.contributor.initiativeLow-Emission Food Systems
cg.contributor.initiativeMixed Farming Systems
cg.contributor.initiativeAgroecology
cg.coverage.regionAfrica
cg.coverage.regionSub-Saharan Africa
cg.creator.identifierPeter BOLO: 0000-0002-4202-7557
cg.creator.identifierMichael Kinyua: 0000-0001-6106-3599
cg.creator.identifierBoaz Waswa: 0000-0002-0066-0215
cg.creator.identifierJob Kihara: 0000-0002-4394-9553
cg.subject.actionAreaResilient Agrifood Systems
cg.subject.alliancebiovciatAGRICULTUREen
cg.subject.alliancebiovciatAGROFORESTRYen
cg.subject.alliancebiovciatCLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATIONen
cg.subject.alliancebiovciatLAND USEen
cg.subject.alliancebiovciatSOIL LANDSCAPESen
cg.subject.impactAreaClimate adaptation and mitigation
cg.subject.impactAreaEnvironmental health and biodiversity
cg.subject.impactAreaNutrition, health and food security
cg.subject.sdgSDG 1 - No povertyen
cg.subject.sdgSDG 2 - Zero hungeren
cg.subject.sdgSDG 12 - Responsible production and consumptionen
cg.subject.sdgSDG 13 - Climate actionen
dc.contributor.authorBolo, Peteren
dc.contributor.authorKinyua, Michaelen
dc.contributor.authorWaswa, Boazen
dc.contributor.authorKihara, Joben
dc.date.accessioned2025-06-17T08:22:31Z
dc.date.available2025-06-17T08:22:31Z
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/175122
dc.titleThe cost of soil erosion in sub-Saharan Africa: Insights for policyen
dcterms.abstractSoil erosion is an urgent environmental concern. Nearly 494 million hectares in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are experiencing some form of land degradation. Of these, about 227.4 million hectares (i.e., 46%) are affected by water erosion, wind erosion (186.5 million; 38%), loss of nutrients via chemical degradation (12 %), and physical deterioration (4%). With losses of about 50 kg of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) per hectare per year, and 50–66% of yield – costing SSA approximately USD 68 billion annually – soil erosion impacts the socio-economic wellbeing of millions of households across SSA. Regenerating degraded soils and building soil health is critical for sustainable food systems transformation. Across Africa, agriculture needs to aim for zero erosion and runoffs by embracing complementary soil management practices (e.g., combined conservation agriculture and integrated soil fertility management -ISFM), and structural measures (e.g., contour farming, terracing, and zai pits). Policy efforts should focus on provisioning incentives for long-term sustainable management efforts against soil erosion through complementary soil management interventions and supporting farmers and other stakeholders with enabling conditions for implementing appropriate agriculture practice bundles (see section on Policy Intervention Areas).en
dcterms.accessRightsOpen Access
dcterms.bibliographicCitationBolo, P.; Kinyua, M.; Waswa, B.; Kihara, J. (2025) The cost of soil erosion in sub-Saharan Africa: Insights for policy. Policy Brief No.98. 8 p.en
dcterms.extent8 p.en
dcterms.issued2025-06-13
dcterms.languageen
dcterms.licenseCC-BY-4.0
dcterms.subjectfertilizers-fertilisersen
dcterms.subjecterosionen
dcterms.subjectsoilen
dcterms.typeBrief

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Alliance Bioversity CIAT Policy and Research Briefs
Alliance Research Lever 2: Multifunctional Landscapes
CGIAR Initiative on Agroecology
CGIAR Initiative on Excellence in Agronomy
CGIAR Initiative on Low-Emission Food Systems
CGIAR Initiative on Mixed Farming Systems